EVERETT – Ondrej Fiala is apparently being welcomed back into the Everett Silvertips fold.

The left wing who left the team amid controversy just prior to last season’s playoffs is coming to training camp. And although it doesn’t guarantee Fiala will be playing for the Tips this season, it does serve as an indication that the parties have settled their differences.

“He’s coming back and we’ll evaluate him while he’s here,” Everett general manager Doug Soetaert said Tuesday, two days before the start of rookie training camp. “We’ll see what happens from there.”

Fiala was one of Everett’s top offensive threats the past two seasons. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder from the Czech Republic notched 33 goals and 35 assists in 90 games. The Minnesota Wild of the NHL selected him in the second round of the 2006 NHL draft.

However, Fiala had his share of health concerns, particularly with his knee. Fiala finally brought his 2006-07 season to an end early last March, returning home to undergo what was described as experimental knee surgery.

The timing of Fiala’s decision was particularly vexing to the Tips, with members of the organization believing Fiala could have continued to play with the injury without risk of further damage.

“There was turmoil when he left,” Soetaert said. “Obviously we felt he didn’t need to go. But that’s water underneath the bridge right now and we’ll see where everything works out. We’re just hoping his knee is healthy for him and his career.”

The status of Fiala’s knee is unknown. He attended Minnesota’s rookie training camp earlier this summer, but did not participate in full workouts. Soetaert didn’t know whether Fiala would be able to participate in any Tips practices before departing for Minnesota’s main training camp in early September.

Fiala’s return presents the Tips with an interesting dilemma. Everett now has three European players — Fiala, left wing Lukas Vartovnik and center Vitali Karamnov — on its roster. All three are expected for training camp. Teams are allowed to carry two Euros.

In addition, if Fiala makes the team, he’d fill two limited roster slots — one as a Euro and one as an overager (a 20-year-old). Teams are allowed three overagers on their rosters.

But there’s no guarantee Fiala will be available to the Tips. It’s possible Fiala will sign with the Wild, and being in his 20-year-old season, he is eligible to play minor professional hockey.

“We’ll kind of wait and see where it goes,” Soetaert said of the logjam. “It depends on how his knee is, that’s what it comes down to. But these things have a way of working themselves out.”